Forgotten critical limitations on cable bolt reinforcement design and guidelines for instrumentation deployment to monitor support behaviour and capacity consumption

Authors: Bawden, WF Download Paper Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2465_21

Cite As:
Bawden, WF 2024, 'Forgotten critical limitations on cable bolt reinforcement design and guidelines for instrumentation deployment to monitor support behaviour and capacity consumption ', in P Andrieux & D Cumming-Potvin (eds), Deep Mining 2024: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Deep and High Stress Mining, pp. 403-416, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2465_21



Abstract:
Cable bolt ground support has been used in mining since the 1970s. The key factors controlling cable bolt support element behaviour and cable bolt pattern support were resolved by the late 1990s. This information was widely disseminated at numerous mining conferences and well summarised in the book by Hutchinson & Diederich (1996). Since then, the author has noted a disturbing increase in the lack of basic understanding and application of these fundamentals by many practitioners around the world. As part of the same research, instrumented cable bolt elements (SMART Cables) were invented and gradually achieved wide acceptance in the industry. While this development was welcome and offers significant benefits from both safety and economic perspectives, the author continues to see a lack of basic understanding on the proper application of instrumentation for ground support monitoring and assessment of support capacity consumption. The first part of this paper provides a review of the critical factors that must be understood and carefully assessed in: While some of the factors in point 1 may seem minor, they can, and often do, dictate the success or failure of a cable bolt program. The factors discussed are equally applicable to any scale of underground excavation (e.g. drifts, stopes, etc.). The second part of this paper discusses the rules and limitations that must be followed for the proper deployment of instrumentation (SMART Cables, multi-point borehole extensometer, etc.) for cable bolts and more general ground support monitoring program design.

Keywords: ground support, cable bolts, cable bolt behaviour, cable bolt design, instrumentation, SMART Cables

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